Gender Difference In Education (P1)

Question 1

Give the reasons for female achievement (external)

Answer 1

The impact of feminism

Changes in the family

Changes in women’s employment

Changes in girls’ ambitions

Question 2

Give the reasons for male underachievement (external)

Answer 2

Boys and literacy

‘Laddish culture’

The decline of traditional male jobs

Question 3

Give the reasons for female achievement (internal)

Answer 3

Equal opportunities policies

Changing stereotypes in the curriculum

GCSE & coursework

Selection/marketisation

Question 4

Give the reasons for male underachievement (external)

Answer 4

Shortage of male primary school teachers

Feminisation of education

‘Laddish subcultures’

Question 5

Describe the following reason for female achievement : the impact of feminism (external)

Answer 5

Since the 1960s the feminist movement has changed the trad stereotype that a woman’s main role should be a housewife and mother and has helped to improve women’s rights and opportunities in employment.

McRobbie compared studies of girls magazine from the 1970s to the 1990s - 70s : stressed the importance of getting married; 90s : women were shown to be more independent.

Question 6

Give a positive evaluation for the impact of feminism being a reason for female achievement

Answer 6

This change and how women are seen may have caused achievement to approve by making goals once you get careers causing them to work harder in school

Question 7

Describe the following reason for female achievement : changes in the family (external)

Answer 7

The increases in divorce cohabitation and SPF have all affected families

Question 8

Give a positive evaluation for the impact of feminism being a reason for female achievement

Answer 8

More fams have a female breadwinner which gives young girls a female adult role model giving them more motivation to do what in school.

The increase in divorce may make girls more cautious about relying on a future husband financially encouraging them to do well education and get good jobs.

Question 9

Describe the following reason for female achievement : changed in women’s employment (external)

Answer 9

The massive increase in women working have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work instead of being housewives. This provides an incentive for them to do better in education.

Question 10

Describe the following reason for female achievement : changing girls’ ambitions (external)

Answer 10

Sharpe : family changes and female employment impacted girls’ ambitions. 70s - girls focused on getting married and children ; 90s - carers and supporting themselves

Question 11

Give a criticism of the changes in girls’ ambition being a reason for female achievement

Answer 11

Even today WC girls have found to have more trad ambitions of marriage and children and expect to go into low paid work.

This may be because they have limited opportunities while a traditional gender identity is more achievable. As a result they see little point in achieving education.

Question 12

Describe the following reason for male underachievement : boys and literacy (external)

Answer 12

Boys are less likely to read the girls. One reason maybe that mothers tend to be the parent who needs her children so boys may see it as a feminine activity.

Furthermore boys’ leisure activities don’t help them develop their language skills while girls spend a lot of time talking to their friends.

As a result boys have poor literary skills and language skills then girls which causes them to underachieve.

Question 13

Describe the following reason for male underachievement : laddish culture (external)

Answer 13

Francis, there’s been a rise in Laddish culture as a response to political correctness

Recent examples of this can be seen in the TV show dapper laughs which was taken off air for causing offence.

Laddish behaviour is often answer achievement as so can cause boys to underachieve.

Question 14

Describe the following reason for male underachievement : the decline of male traditional jobs

Answer 14

Decline in male manual jobs in Britain due to manufacturing moving abroad-> boys have few jobs to look forward to when they leave education -> crisis of masculinity

Question 15

Give a criticism of the decline of traditional male jobs being a reason for male underachievement

Answer 15

Most of these manual jobs were filled by boys w/ few or no qualifications anyways e.g Willis’ lads

Question 16

Describe the following reason for female achievement :equal opportunities policies (internal)

Answer 16

Feminist ideas have impacted education leading to the belief that boys and girls are equally capable and entitled to the same opportunities.

E.g GIST and WISE have encouraged girls to study trad male subjects while the National Curriculum removes gender inequality by making body and girls mostly study the same subjects.

Question 17

Give a positive evaluation for equal opportunities being an external reason for female achievement

Answer 17

Many of the barriers to female achievement have been removed

Question 18

Describe the following reason for female achievement : challenging stereotypes in the curriculum (internal)

Answer 18

Weiner - since the 1980s , teachers have challenged gender stereotypes in lessons and textbooks have also removed sexist images

Question 19

Describe the following external reason for female achievement : GCSE and coursework(internal)

Answer 19

Gorard- before coursework was introduced in 1989 the gender gap was fairly stable but increased w/ the intro of it which some argue girls are better at, as they’re more organised, spend more time on their work and are better at meeting deadlines.

Some argue these characteristics are the result of gender socialisation because girls are encouraged to be more tidy and patient than boys . Coursework may also affect subject choice: girls are better at it and may pick subjects where it’s part of the final grade (vice versa for boys with exams)

Question 20

Describe the following reason for female achievement :selection/marketisation (internal)

Answer 20

Intro of league tables may have provided girls with better opps - high achieving girls are more attractive to schools than low achieving boys , so just like the top schools are more likely to choose MC students over WC , they’re more likely to select girls over boys

Question 21

Give a positive evaluation for challenging stereotypes in the curriculum being an external reason for female achievement

Answer 21

Improved girls’ achievement by presenting them with more positive images of what women can do

Question 22

Give a criticism for GCSE & coursework being an external reason for female achievement

Answer 22

In some subjects coursework only counts for a small part of the final grade suggesting girls must also outperform boys in exams - suggests other factors affecting the gender gap

Question 23

Why do WC girls still underachieve compared to MC girls despite overall improvement in female achievement?

Answer 23

Their culture clashes w/ the education system. E.g they’re more likely to want to settle and have kids and have low aspirations.

Bordieu’s concept of habitus - school is based on MC values and causes conflict w/ WC girls’ values. E.g they’re have hyper heterosexual feminine identities which creates clashes with teachers over appearance - wearing jewellery or wrong clothing.

Supports labelling theory as WV girls are less likely to be seen as ideal pupils

Question 24

Describe the following reason for male underachievement : shortage of male primary school teachers (internal)

Answer 24

Boys work better when they have male teachers however very few p school teachers are male = no positive role model for males. To combat, the gov has tried to increase the number of male p school teachers

Question 25

Describe the following reason for male underachievement : Feminisation of education

Answer 25

Sewell - the intro of coursework disadvantages boys + schools don’t encourage masc characteristics like leadership , but fem qualities like co-operation -> underachievement as typical male behaviours isn’t valued in education.

Question 26

Describe the following internal reason for male underachievement : laddish subcultures

Answer 26

WC boys are likely to be harassed and called gay if they appear to be in swots in school-> WC culture non manual work is seems as fem: WC boys therefore reject school work -> failure e.g Willis’ lads

Question 27

What causes have been identified for the trends of boys and girls choosing different subjects for GCSEs and A-Levels

Answer 27

Gendered subject images Gender role socialisation Gendered career opportunities Peer pressure Gender of teachers Equal opportunity schemes Coursework/ assessment

Question 28

Which experiences in schools may help reinforce gender and sexual identities

Answer 28

Double standards - boys boasting about their own sexual exploits but calls a girl a slag if she dresses in a certain way. Male sexual conquests is approved by other boys and ignored by male teachers, while female promiscuity is always negatively labelled by male students and teachers. Verbal abuse- name calling is a way of shaping gender identity and maintaining male power. Use of labels ‘gay and lezzer’ are ways in which pupils police each other’s sexual identities . The male gaze - the way male pupils/teachers look girls up and down , viewing them as sex objects and making judgements about their appearance. It’s a form of surveillance which reinforces heterosexual masc and devalues femininity. Boys who don’t display - gay.

Question 29

Describe the following cause of the difference between subject choice: gendered subject images

Answer 29

Kelly - science = male subject as most science teachers = male. Computing is seems as a male subject as it involves working w/ machines

Question 30

Describe the following cause of the difference between subject choice: Gender role socialisation

Answer 30

Early socialisation helps shape our gender identities. Tasks and activities may be seen as male or female - gender domains e.g fixing a car = male. These domains can affect how students do tasks - in the same task girls focus more on how people feel while boys focus on how things work. Explains why girls choose humanities and art (emotion) and boys choose science subjects

Question 31

Describe the following cause of the difference between subject choice: Gendered career opportunities

Answer 31

Women’s work is often associated with housewife role , such as childcare—> girls are more likely to study courses that lead to these jobs. This is why vocational courses tend to be more dominated by one gender , as they tend to lead to female/ male jobs

Question 32

Describe the following cause of the difference between subject choice: peer pressure

Answer 32

Boys may not pick fem subjects such as dance for fear of being labelled gay by other boys

Question 33

Describe the following cause of the difference between subject choice: Gender of teachers

Answer 33

Teachers may act as role models for pupils of that gender - if a subject is dominated but teachers of one gender (e.g male science teachers) this may encourage students of the same gender to study that subject

Question 34

Describe the following cause of the difference between subject choice: Equal opportunity schemes

Answer 34

Girls into Science and Tech (GIST) Women into science and engineering (WISE)